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SB 65 amends Code Section 44-13-100, which permits debtors to exempt certain property from bankruptcy proceedings, by doubling the catch-all property exemption. Current law allows debtors to exempt the value of any piece of property, not exceeding $600, plus up to $5,000 of any unused amount of the homestead property exemption. SB 65 permits debtors to exempt the value of any piece of property, not in excess of $1,200, plus up to $10,000 of any unused amount of the homestead exemption. In summary, Senate Bill 65 increases the maximum exemption under the catch-all property exemption from $5,600 to $11,200. The bill also includes language (passed by the House in HB 197) which updates and modernizes the following three uniform acts in the debtor-creditor area to reflect recent changes to these acts by the Uniform Law Commission: the 'Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act,' which codifies the most prevalent common law rules with regard to the recognition and enforcement of money judgments rendered in other countries; Article 1 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which serves all other articles of the UCC with definitions and general provisions; and, the 'Uniform Voidable Transactions Act,' formerly named the 'Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act,' which strengthens creditor protections by providing remedies for certain transactions by a debtor that are unfair to the debtor's creditors.
It adopts the "Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act," Article 1 of the "Uniform Commercial Code," (UCC) and the "Uniform Voidable Transactions Act" (formerly, the "Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act"). It repeals Article VI of the UCC.
The bill provides the short title of "Debtor-Creditor Uniform Law Modernization Act of 2015, and adopts the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, which allows domestication of judgments from outside the country. It does not apply to any judgment subject to the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution. It provides, among other things: allocations for burdens of proof related to the foreign-country judgment procedures for rendering judgments; and a statute of limitations of 15 years from the date the foreign-country judgment became effective in the foreign country.
The bill adopts the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act. It establishes that jurisdiction is proper where the debtor engaged in the transaction, with that jurisdiction's law controlling. It sets forth burdens of proof, depending on the type of claim. It authorizes that the assignee of a debt may pursue an action for a voidable transaction. It clarifies that a plaintiff does not have to serve process according to O.C.G.A. ยง 9-11-4 to domesticate a judgment from another country. |
